{"id":69614,"date":"2021-05-28T10:38:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T09:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=69614"},"modified":"2021-05-28T10:38:17","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T09:38:17","slug":"texas-release-10th-album-hi-and-lead-off-with-brilliant-single-that-might-just-be-the-summer-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2021\/05\/texas-release-10th-album-hi-and-lead-off-with-brilliant-single-that-might-just-be-the-summer-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Release 10th Album, \u2018Hi\u2019 And Lead Off With Brilliant Single That Might Just Be The Summer Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to believe that this band, Texas, are actually best known in France. They seem to have been so much part of the tapestry of UK music since \u2018I Don\u2019t Want a Lover\u2019 dropped in 1989 on the brilliant debut \u2018Southside\u2019. Now, 33 years later they have released an album which is quite literally genre defying. It has songs that quite simply span every kind of music. Sharleen Spiteri, the age defying lead singer of the band says:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n

\u201cit literally goes from a kind of country feel, to this big cinematic sound. It goes disco and you get soul and blues. You get the big ballads. You\u2019ve got everything, its even got the Bob Dylan folky sort of stuff\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lead single \u2018Mr Haze\u2019 definitely owes its vibe to the master of disco, the maestro Giorgio Moroder himself, who gave permission for the band to sample Donna Summer\u2019s 1977 hit \u2018Love\u2019s Unkind\u2019. He already had a relationship with the band after his reworking of \u2018Summer Son\u2019 back in 1999 so he knew his beats were safe in the masterful hands of the band. The result is a song that is impossible not to enjoy. If ever, after such a miserable May, we needed summertime in a bottle, then this song is exactly that. I personally can\u2019t wait to see the band sing it live at Chris Evans’ Carfest in the Summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt puts a smile on your face because you go \u2018I know this\u2019. It\u2019s such a feel good song, Mr Haze, when you put it on you feel happy and you want to dance\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Title track \u2018Hi\u2019 really harks back to the vibe of 1997\u2019s massive \u2018White on Blonde\u2019 and 1999\u2019s \u2018Hush\u2019 albums but with a country rock feel that pays tribute to the twangy guitar of \u2018I Don\u2019t Need a Lover\u2019. It features a stunning collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan and really reminds me of one of my favourite pieces of music ever, The Heavy\u2019s \u2018Short Change Hero\u2019. This album succeeds in the near impossible task of moving forward in feel but not abandoning the 3 decades of music making that has made Texas one of our best bands. That being said it is fast becoming one of my favourite releases by the band and it has a brilliant video to boot.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on the album we see collaborations with Richard Hawley on the brilliant \u2018Dark Fire\u2019 and Sharleen breaking new ground for her with a duet with Altered Images\u2019 Clare Grogan, Scots musical royalty together at last, on \u2018Look What You\u2019ve Done\u2019. Sharleen says:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI do a duet with Clare Grogan as well, which I\u2019ve never done before! I\u2019d never done a duet with another so it\u2019s amazing, it\u2019s fantastic\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The new album is an entirely new piece of work but does celebrate various album and track anniversaries. Sharleen has commented on the band\u2019s journey into the archives as they tried to come up with something that was a celebration of past work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe went into the vaults to look for putting something together for Universal, and we were like \u2018let\u2019s try and find stuff that\u2019s never been heard before\u2019 and there was loads of it, and we kind of went maybe we should just put a whole album together of that and then we went \u2018What are we doing? Let\u2019s just write a completely new album\u2019”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The record was actually finished before lockdown but not released as the band were really aware of releasing it when the tone of the times we were living in seemed wrong. They spent the first lockdown writing and added another three songs to the track listing.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201c(we) did a little bit of jiggery-pokery messing around with it \u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Whatever song ends up being your favourite on the new album, there is one constant and that is the incredible vocals of lead singer Sharleen Spiteri which is effortlessly poured over the whole release, always smooth and yet with that hint of controlled rock sensibility whether utilised in the restrained \u2018Moonstar\u2019 or the 50\u2019s dance style of \u2018Dark Fire\u2019. Rarely has a singer who has been around for over thirty years been able to sustain the high quality of this singer. It\u2019s about time that we take our lead from the French and put Texas on the music pedestal on which they belong.<\/p>\n

Track list: Mr Haze, Hi (with Wu-Tang Clan), Just Want to be Liked, Unbelievable, Moonstar, Dark Fire, Look What You\u2019ve Done (with Clare Grogan), Heaven Knows, You Can Call Me, Sound of my Voice, Falling, Hi (single mix), Had a Hard Day, Had to Leave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to believe that this band, Texas, are actually best known in France. They seem to have been so much part of the tapestry of UK music since \u2018I Don\u2019t Want a Lover\u2019 dropped in 1989 on the brilliant debut \u2018Southside\u2019. Now, 33 years later they have released an album which is quite literally genre defying. It has songs that quite simply span every kind of music. <\/p>\n

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A new album, the follow up to their acclaimed 2017 release \u2018Jump On Board,\u2019 will come later this year on BMG.","rel":"","context":"In "Concerts"","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Texas-Credit-Julian-Bond10049.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Texas-Credit-Julian-Bond10049.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Texas-Credit-Julian-Bond10049.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Texas-Credit-Julian-Bond10049.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Texas-Credit-Julian-Bond10049.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28773,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2017\/07\/texas-unveil-video-for-midnight-the-third-single-to-be-taken-from-the-bands-top-10-album-jump-on-board\/","url_meta":{"origin":69614,"position":2},"title":"Texas Unveil Video For ‘Midnight’, The Third Single To Be Taken From The Band’s Top 10 Album ‘Jump On Board’","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"13\/07\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Texas are back with \u2018Jump On Board\u2019, a glorious new album from one of Britain\u2019s best loved bands. Now signed to BMG, Texas have made an absolute pop classic boasting the back to the dance floor first single \u2018Let\u2019s Work It Out\u2019 and the stone cold smash hit \u2018Tell That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerts"","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tom-Beard_24027_24-lower.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tom-Beard_24027_24-lower.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tom-Beard_24027_24-lower.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tom-Beard_24027_24-lower.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tom-Beard_24027_24-lower.jpg?fit=1198%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62920,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2020\/06\/riva-taylors-album-this-womans-heart-set-to-complete-soon\/","url_meta":{"origin":69614,"position":3},"title":"Riva Taylor\u2019s Album \u2018This Woman\u2019s Heart\u2019 Set To Complete Soon","author":"Steve Holley","date":"11\/06\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Riva Taylor's upcoming album, 'This Woman's Heart', is very much the music of an artist that has grown from that successful girl to a woman with something new to say, there is personal retrospection for sure, even jealousy, but there is no regret.","rel":"","context":"In "Album Of The Week"","block_context":{"text":"Album Of The Week","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/album-of-the-week\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/riva7.png?fit=1124%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/riva7.png?fit=1124%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/riva7.png?fit=1124%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/riva7.png?fit=1124%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/riva7.png?fit=1124%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35208,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2018\/04\/eponymous-debut-album-arkansas-dave-out-today-from-austin-based-blues-singer\/","url_meta":{"origin":69614,"position":4},"title":"Eponymous Debut Album ‘Arkansas Dave’ Out Today From Austin-Based Blues Singer","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"20\/04\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month we reviewed the brilliant self-titled debut by Austin based blues singer, Arkansas Dave. 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He first gained initial acclaim with the Denton-based Nourallah Brothers, and has since gone on to release several solo albums, as well as produce many more, including the Old 97s, Rhett Miller, Deathray Davies, and Carter Albrecht. 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